Magnetic stripe cards LoCo / HiCo

Magnetic strip cards are one of the most economical solutions for recording information on a plastic card. Magnetic cards come with two standards of magnetic stripes: LoCo and HiCo, which differ mainly in the durability of the stored data.

Magnetic strip – basics

A magnetic stripe is a piece of tape on which information can be encoded. Data is read by swiping the card through the reader. This tape allows information to be written and read repeatedly in digital form.
 
Effective coding and reading of data from the card make magnetic cards widely used in auto-identification systems, access control, working time recording, unattended sales systems, and many other areas. The international standard ISO 7811 specifies the location and parameters of the belt.

Loco and HiCo Magnetic Strips

Currently, two types of stripes are used in magnetic cards:

• LoCo (low coercivity) – a strip with a low coercivity coefficient – approx. 300 oe (ersteds),
• HICO (high coercivity) – a strip with a high coercivity coefficient – up to 4000oe (esters).

HiCo magnetic strip is the most popular due to its higher resistance to demagnetization. Magnetic access cards, magnetic identifiers, or even payment cards – HiCo strips are most often used in such cards.
LoCo magnetic stripes are cheaper, but are more susceptible to demagnetization, which may lead to loss of stored data. They are therefore used in applications where data security is not the most important – event cards, magnetic tickets, hotel key cards, gift cards, etc.

The magnetic stripe consists of three recording paths, offering a total capacity of 75 alphanumeric characters and 147 digits. Although this capacity may be considered relatively small, it is sufficient to record the card number, expiration date, holder’s personal data and additional information. Here you will find more information about magnetic stripes.

Magnetic stripe – not only black

The color of the magnetic strip does not have to be limited only to black. Our offer includes various colors of magnetic strips to choose from:

• silver
• gold
• green
• blue
• brown
• and of course – black

 
Despite the growing popularity of RFID contactless cards, magnetic stripe cards are still an excellent choice for applications that do not require advanced solutions or special security measures.